I would have NEVER picked up this book if I knew that an 8 year old little girl was going to die.

When I read a synopsis and it says it is a love story, I never thought to wonder if any little ones were going to die. To me that is not a fucking love story. What. The. Fuck. Don’t advertise this as a fucking love story.

I have 2 children and the thought of losing them kills me, I don’t want to read about the shit. I work in a trauma ICU… Do you think I need a fucking reminder of what pain looks like?

There will be no cute little graphics and beautiful moments in this review. This is about to get really fucking messy.

Destroyed by Pepper Winters is NOT a love story. It’s a story of a murderous psyopath and a really stupid female who have the most toxic love affair. Let’s throw in a little domestic violence for shits and giggles.

I’m not being dramatic here either, there is major domestic violence here but it is all considered love. I don’t know about you but getting choked out is not my idea of a love story.

But don’t worry we’re also going to add a wee bit of rape to top it off.

I’m so not joking here… this shit really happens in the “love story”.

Let me not get ahead of myself and give you a quick word from the author…

Synopsis

She has a secret.

I’m complicated. Not broken or ruined or running from a past I can’t face. Just complicated.

I thought my life couldn’t get any more tangled in deceit and confusion. But I hadn’t met him. I hadn’t realized how far I could fall or what I’d do to get free.

He has a secret.

I’ve never pretended to be good or deserving. I chase who I want, do what I want, act how I want.

I didn’t have time to lust after a woman I had no right to lust after. I told myself to shut up and stay hidden. But then she tried to run. I’d tasted what she could offer me and damned if I would let her go.

One secret destroys them.

**********************************************

The story line goes something like this… girl (Zel) meets crazy guy at a fight club (Fox), guy offers girl $200,000 to live with him for 1 month, girl agrees so she can buy medicine for sick child (Clara), guy chokes and rapes girl 2 times, girl introduces guy to sick daughter, sick daughter moves in with crazy guy too, sick child dies, girl gets pregnant, crazy guy goes to kill a shit ton of people to “heal himself ” from his “demons”, girl marries guy, he chokes her 2 more times, they have babies and he promises not to beat her ass anymore.

So what happens when you agree to live with a man for month after meeting him 45 mins ago and having a dying daughter at home? Duh… You get choked out for touching him. Talk about romance. My panties are wet already…

“…What matters is I promise I won’t touch you again. I can see it’s an issue for you. I’ve learned my lesson.”

You have got to be fucking kidding me. It’s shit like this that makes women think it’s okay to be in an abusive relationship. This book really put me inside the head of a stupid ass woman. I guess to teach her a lesson he rapes her too. Of course it’s not his fault that he beats and rapes her – he had a fucked up childhood so that explains and excuses everything.

You got life all the way fucked up if you think they shit is going to fly with me.

This is my problem with Pepper Winters and this book – you cannot justify rape and domestic violence by saying the abuser just had a fucked up childhood. Loads of abusers have fucked up childhoods. Should we start saying, “It’s okay. I’m going to love him until he can find a way to stop.”

No, bitch! This is not okay!

This wasn’t some 50 Shades of Love kind of abuse where he just got off on some BDSM type of shit. This man was literally trying to kill her. He wanted to end her life. How in the hell can you call this shit a love story? I just don’t fucking get it.

Books like this are one of the reasons so many women stay with their abusers. They feel like it’s okay because they can save them. They feel like it’s okay because they deserve it. They feel like it’s okay because they don’t know any better. Just like Zel does in this book.

In the book Zel states that she didn’t want to have sex with the person who fathered her daughter. She says it wasn’t really rape because she never said no but she didn’t want it. The father of her child was the only man she had ever been with so she didn’t know any better. This is a pattern, a circle of events. This is a fucked up book. I just can’t.

How can you write this shit and be okay with allowing people to call it love? I don’t get it.

At least there was one person who didn’t hold with rape. His business partner, Oscar didn’t really care for Zel but he also never wanted to see her hurt.

“Please tell me she wanted it or so help me. We may be business partners, Fox, and I don’t know what shit you dealt with in your past, but if you rape her, I’ll kill you myself.”

At least somebody had some balls to stand up to that man. Even though no one told him that did rape her. She didn’t tell anyone because even she knew it wasn’t okay. Most women in abusive relationships don’t tell their family and friends about the abuse either. This book is like a play by play on how to live with domestic violence. All you need now is a support group for everyone to share how to keep up appearances.

After he rapes her the second time she runs out of the house right into her daughter who she then introduces to the psychopath.

This book just hurt my feelings.

This is what really sent me over the edge…

Her daughter, who initially loved Fox became scared of him at one point. I can’t blame her but I can blame her mother. This is what happens when your child touches a man who can’t be touched and forgets to control himself.

Conditioning tsunamied through me, wreaking havoc on my self-control, reminding me I’d been forged as a weapon, not a human to interact with something as killable as a child.

My hands clutched Clara’s shoulders, digging into her, and it took every single reserve left inside to shove her away. The second she tumbled to the floor, Zel scooped her up and darted backward. – Fox

So… yeah… that just happened.

Jesus take the wheel.

This man just dug into her child’s skin and throw her to the ground. Lord have mercy, I would have went ape shit. The worst part is, Zel still stayed with him after that. I just don’t get it.

If you haven’t realized by now, I have a huge problem with rape and domestic violence. I don’t believe it has any place in a love story. I don’t think it should be something that is excusable.

Here’s a quick word from me to Pepper Winters…

You could write the most amazing book ever, win a Noble Peace Prize, feed all the starving children and/or name all your children after me. There is noway I will ever pick up another one of your books. I can’t read a books by a woman who finds a way to justify rape, domestic violence, and child abuse. That’s just me. I know I have zero influence on your life but I just wanted to put that out there.

Now back to our regular scheduled program…

If you or someone you know is being abused please contact your local domestic violence hotline which you can find here.

Thank you Dilek! I was going to try to be more gentle on Goodreads but I couldn’t. I figured someone would be upset if I did. There are somethings that I can’t place in a love story no matter if it’s dark romance or not. These were hard limits for me.

I gave it 5 stars but I still get why you did not like it at all Danielle! I can’t fault you for what you said because that’s true but…it worked for me. I must be deranged or have distorting glasses maybe? Lol

Good on you for writing this review and calling out the author. I can’t believe this book even left the editor’s desk! In a world were women are still treated as second class citizens, especially with all the shit going on in America – executives orders that now control women’s bodies – we need our fiction to fight that systemic abuse, not glamorize it. I can’t believe the author thought it was 100% okay to essentially romanticize domestic abuse. And the child! What?! Why bring a child into that situation? My heart broke when I read your review. I definitely won’t be going anywhere near this book or others by the author.

I have to wonder about the mental state of people who actually liked this book.

Sounds like the only way I would like this book if she killed him after touching her daughter. I understand having rape or abuse in a book, but it needs to have where the woman leaves and makes a life on her own. Or he gets locked up and she and the children get help and start a new life. Or she kills him. If there are rape or abuse in the story, I want the victim to overcome it. I want it to make them stronger and more determined to fix the problem, not put up with and feel like they deserve it or whatever. Have you read “It Ends With Us” by Colleen Hoover? It’s one of my favorite books ever. It breaks my heart, but I love it.

You are 100% on point with your comment. I was hoping that she would overcome the abuse and leave or kill him (either one 😉) I recently downloaded “It Ends With Us” I wanted to read it last weekend but I didn’t get around to it. Hopefully I can read it towards the end of the week. I’ve heard great things about it.

I just finished “It Ends With Us” and OMG, I’m crying like a baby. It was so good. I can’t wait to review it. It was just so beautifully written. “Destroyed” is nothing like “It Ends With Us” at all. I can see why you love it so much.

This has to be one of the most intense book reviews I have read in a while! I can understand your frustration though, I think I probably would have felt the same way had I read the book. But I don’t think such books should not be published, this type of shit happens. Millions of women worldwide are living with domestic violence on a day-to-day basis, the world is not easy for everyone. Who knows, maybe this book might get someone out of an abusive relationship for fear of it being as bad as Pepper has painted it. Not all books are meant to damage us. Great review though.

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Hey there! I'm Danielle! I just a girl who loves books. I love books so much that I talk about the stories like they are real. Who knows? Maybe, they are real to me. I do love the book world, it's way better than reality. . .sometimes. . .because. . .I'm also a proud mama bear, wife, and mother!

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Hey there! I'm Danielle! I just a girl who loves books. I love books so much that I talk about the stories like they are real. Who knows? Maybe, they are real to me. I do love the book world, it's way better than reality. . .sometimes. . .because. . .I'm also a proud mama bear, wife, and mother!